Public Statements

Conyers: Sequester is Not the Answer

Statement

Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement after his vote in opposition to H.R. 933, the "Fiscal Year 2013 Department of Defense, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act":

"Today, I opposed a flawed government spending bill that fails to make critical investments in our nation's domestic priorities or stop the devastating across-the-board spending cuts known as "sequestration,'" said Conyers.

"By failing to stop sequestration with today's vote, Congress is callously turning a blind eye to the terrible ramifications of these cuts. Failure to act today is a failure to prevent 600,000 to 775,000 low-income women, infants, and children from losing access to nutritional supplements. It is a failure to protect 100,000 low-income families who will lose their housing vouchers. It is a failure to preserve precious dollars in the unemployment checks of millions of jobless workers.

"Budgets and funding bills are necessary components of the work of any legislative body. But they also serve another purpose: they demonstrate to the world our values, morals, and national priorities. By voting for a bill today that ignores the needs of millions of Americans by funding necessary domestic government programs at levels not seen since the Eisenhower Administration, the vision of America we project to the world today is that of a country that is failing at its most basic tasks.

"Thankfully, there is a way out of this self-inflicted crisis: Congress can simply cancel the sequester. I have introduced a one-sentence bill, H.R. 900, the "Cancel the Sequester Act' which would do just that. The time for debate is over. It is time for Congress to act. It's time for Congress to protect our constituents from Washington's dysfunction and cancel the sequester."